The field of surgery includes both open and arthroscopic procedures. One common technique for most repair or reconstruction procedures is that one or more strands of suture material are used to repair torn soft tissue, or to reattach soft tissue back to bone, so that the anatomy will heal. A critical element of this “suture repair” is the need to tie the ends of the sutures together to form a knot.
Currently, in some scenarios in which a surgeon ties a knot intra-operatively, a surgeon must develop the skill and dexterity to fashion a knot in the ends of the sutures, pass that knot down to the level of the needed repair, tighten the knot and lock the knot so that the knot will maintain proper tension for holding the tissues together for healing. In many cases, the maneuvers required to tie the desired knot are complex and require considerable practice to learn in order to maintain the requisite level of proficiency.
In other instances, in order to save a surgeon from having to tie a knot intra-operatively, manufacturers pre-tie a surgical knot in the suture, and provide a device to deploy the suture to the operative site so that a surgeon does not have to tie the suture knot intra-operatively. Currently, in order to manufacture a suture with a pre-tied surgical knot, a person must first be trained to be proficient in knot tying. This raises the possibility of irregularities in the quality of the manufacturing process as a result of fatigue, distraction or human error.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new and improved method and apparatus for forming a knot in surgical suture which addresses the deficiencies of the prior art.
In addition, knots are frequently used in non-medical applications (e.g., fishing). The formation of these knots can require substantial skill, can be time-consuming and can be prone to error due to fatigue, distraction or human error. Thus, there is a need for a new and improved method and apparatus for forming a knot in filaments which address the deficiencies of the prior art.